The Moral Necessity of Political Involvement

I don't like to "get political." Generally, I prefer to "live and let live." I took this stance from our eleventh Article of Faith:

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

In my mind, this meant that if people wanted to worship Heavenly Father, or some other God or Gods, or material things, or celebrities, or political figures, or themselves, or even Satan, it was my moral duty to "let them worship how, where, or what they may," by not speaking out against it. I am prone to let others believe what they want to believe and do what they want to do, without any judgemental commentary from me. However, in light of a General Conference talk I read this morning, I've realised that this may be unkind.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke of offering "[A] Voice of Warning" to those who believe untruths or practice bad behavior. He said:

While the duty to warn is felt especially keenly by prophets, it is a duty shared by others as well. In fact, “it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.” We who have received a knowledge of the great plan of happiness—and its implementing commandments—should feel a desire to share that knowledge since it makes all the difference here and in eternity.

So, it "becometh" us to teach other people about the commandments of God, especially when they break them, even if they don't believe in Him. We should constantly try to encourage righteousness and discourage unrighteousness. To do otherwise would mean allowing preventable evils to persist and would cause unnecessary pain to the victims of the evil, including the perpetrators. If we are to reduce mortal suffering and reduce the likelihood of eternal suffering, we must speak out against evil.

This, of necessity, forces us into the political arena. Especially recently, the conflict between differing political ideologies has involved an increasingly intense discussion of morality. Some political organizations have been encouraging evil acts or beliefs or have been accusing other political groups of encouraging evil acts and beliefs. If it were morally permissible, I admit that I would be far more comfortable letting the idiots be idiots and not paying or giving them any attention. Yet, it seems to me that the only moral course of action is to decry wickedness and try to help the evildoers see the error of their ways.

I don't want to "get political," but my political friends, and now Elder Christofferson, have convinced me that it's immoral for me to remain on the sidelines when I could otherwise do some good. I believe in doing good and encouraging others to do good. Now, I need to put that belief to political practice.